UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)
Well-Known Member
The TOS prohibits me from telling you what you need to do but I can say that it is anatomically impossible.
Package Handler
- Thread starter Stavemist316
- Start date
The TOS prohibits me from telling you what you need to do but I can say that it is anatomically impossible.
Damn, wish I could transfer to your center. I would kill for 42 hour work weeks. I haven't seen anything less than 45 in quite some time
UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)
Well-Known Member
I am not the first driver done each day--there are two drivers who are usually punched out and gone by 1700 each day. I punch out at 1815-1830 and am usually one of the first 10 back each day.
I like the number of hours I work each week and have budgeted accordingly.
brownmonster
Man of Great Wisdom
Explain. If your dispatch averages 9 to 9.5 shouldn't you have 5 to 7.5 hours of OT each week? Or are you running an hour under in a non bonus center? I have 7.5 hrs OT leading into today,Wed. Cha-ching.
UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)
Well-Known Member
I am usually an hour under.
I'm a new loader for a few weeks and I have a few questions. How important is the PPH? I think I had 190-ish yesterday and the manager sort of chewed me out; I think the goal was 200. My schedule was to start at 4:40am and be done by 8:30am; I had to load four trucks.
With the ten minute break, daily quizzes, interruptions, erigs and helping the other loaders I'm not sure if that's doable. Some of the stuff are just really heavy and gives me a hard time moving to the truck. It gets really hectic near the end and I get really stressed out. I'm still on the probation period, do I need to worry about getting hired permanently or not if I don't meet the goals?
My original start time was at 4:15am, but they kept moving it back. Why don't they make us start earlier to finish sooner? From what I can tell all the loaders exceed the deadline too.
With the ten minute break, daily quizzes, interruptions, erigs and helping the other loaders I'm not sure if that's doable. Some of the stuff are just really heavy and gives me a hard time moving to the truck. It gets really hectic near the end and I get really stressed out. I'm still on the probation period, do I need to worry about getting hired permanently or not if I don't meet the goals?
My original start time was at 4:15am, but they kept moving it back. Why don't they make us start earlier to finish sooner? From what I can tell all the loaders exceed the deadline too.
nystripe96
Well-Known Member
Hey, this is my first post. I'm dying to get in as a package handler. I went in for an interview back in June and I'm basically playing the waiting game since than. I've been in regular contact with HR for the past few months, so it still appears eventually I'll get called in for a second interview because the HR person said they'll notify me when a position opens up for either the twilight or overnight. My question is do they only do the hiring in large numbers, or do they hire when certain people can't hack it and drop out? I'm sure people have dropped out since my interview. I've heard in many circles than I should just call and call, and pester the heck outta HR. Is this a good or bad idea? I'm so sick of waiting, I'm beyond ready to start.
old levi's
blank space
Thanks for all the input guys it's really helpful. I would like to become a trucker someday but I dunno if I can hold out 10+ years at UPS lol. I really hope I get hired and if I do I'll definitely become an active member here. If I get the job and it turns out it's really not for me, I'll stick with it through the summer while I study to get my CDL and then I'll try to find a part time delivery type job to gain some experience.
I have a couple more questions that have been on my mind...
So its true you don't get any of the benefits until you've been working there for 1 year? Does that include tuition assistance?
If I get the job and start at 8.50 how long do you think it would take to advance to 9.50-10?
Might be a stupid question but, what should I wear to the interview? It says to dress casual but I'm not sure how casual lol
For the interview/tour, is it like a group of people that tour and get interviewed all at once? Or is it a one on one type thing?
Gangsta shorts with your ass hanging out above the waistband. Wifebeater tee with some of your lunch showing on the front. Hat on sideways because that will keep the sun off one ear. Lots of facial hair that hasn't been maintained. Piercings optional. Greasy long hair that hasn't been washed for 10 days. Show up like that and you should be a lock.
That describes about 60% of the preload /reload crew where I work. The future of this company. ( shudder)
If you keep bugging them they will hire you eventually. If you interviewed in june they have probably seen literally hundreds of new young men they are ready to use and abuse. The only thing that would hold up you starting is if there is someone that's able to train you so bug the s_hit out of HR. You will have to fill out all your paperwork again. I have filled mine twice. I9 and everything.
I had to go up six or seven times before I got the news today, "85% chance I will start this monday".
nystripe96
Well-Known Member
Well, I spoke to a driver recently, he said the facility near me will probably make alot of new hires in Sept/OCt, and that summer hires are rare. Said alot of old drivers are on the verge of retirement, so I should make driver in 2 or 3 yrs. I'm in Queens, so the hub here is huge, and they always need newbies. I'm gonna wait a little bit, then bug the heck outta HR if I don't hear anything by the end of sept. My only worry is my application is no longer listed on the UPS careers site. It's been 3 months since my interview, and I have been in contact with HR regularly so I dunno why my application is no longer on file on the website. Should that be cause for concern even? Talking to a live person is impossible, so I just email and leave voicemails every few weeks haha, why not.
nystripe96
Well-Known Member
nobody picks up the darn phone ever. I can only leave voicemails, so voicemails and emails is what they will get haha. BTW, what did u say over and over and over again? I wanna change it up ya know. I've called 4 times since June basically saying how much I wanna work there, how the hard work is exactly what I want. So on and so forth. What else is good to say without sounding like a repetitive drone? thanx
stripe they don't give a s_hit about you, or your voicemails every few weeks. they have guys lining up outside the doors because the general public does not know how physical this job really is. Four calls in a month is nothing. Go up there. No calls, just show up. I bet every time you're there no matter what time it is you will see guys waiting to be interviewed. Keep driving up to the facility until they assign you to orientation. Like 728 bug the s_hit out of them until they are literally tired of seeing your face. Otherwise HR will just hire the new fish they get every other day by the dozens.
nystripe96
Well-Known Member
well 1 of my detective friends is best friends with somebody prominent at human resources. he specifically said that they're not doing the hiring right away until after the summer. So I'm just gonna space out my contacts, I can't go overboard right now.
ORLY!?!
Master Loader
Wow, you listen and believe your full time soup or any other soup? The first thing you should learn and know of is those types in management or supervision will lie to you ALL THE TIME! They will lie to you right in your face, and still get a full nights sleep afterwords. Unethical, yes. Soul selling, hell yes. You better start believing in unicorns and magic beans before taking the word of those types.
old levi's
blank space
Or you could believe in nymphomaniacs, same difference really.
Follow up post on Package Handler. What to expect in cornerstone, a UPS training program, by New Chris
**********
First day was all classroom work. You watch videos and fill out sheets of information on safety.
They tell you to wear boots. A few guys didn't but they were fine and just got a 15 second lecture.
At the very start of day 1 they announced they had no idea what section we would be going in to.
They take your photo and issue you a UPS ID on the spot. This ID has your photo and on the flipside has all the telephone numbers you need to call for different things such as the number to call Saturday or Sunday and find out what your schedule will be for that week.
About an hour later they announced this was the first time since May that they were offering choices between loader and unloader. There were no options to go straight to sort.
We were told the following:
If we take loader, we would handle way less packages but we'd have more responsibilities. We have to clean up s_hit and get ready for the AM shift
at the end of the night while the unloaders go home early.
There was not much talk about unloader, just mainly would "get to leave earlier" frequently because once all the packages are unloaded there is nothing left to do for unloaders.
I was amazed at how many hands shot up for unloader. I know that’s the consensus on the forum but I am surprised by it, still.
Most of the guys told me they just wanted to work and not have to think.
Their choice, but not mine. I was assigned my partner in training.
About sorting-- Everyone in the class was so interested in sorting, especially the unloaders. I raised my hand to clarify a sorter will sort around
five thousand packages and its no joke. But even after that people were c**ming to the thought of that extra dollar.
People even thought they could try out and get low pick off, even though HR explained this was seniority based.
My hub has a display hanging inside praising the top 20 sorters that have 0-1 missorts out of their five thousand packages.
HR had told me previously that "if I want to be a sorter, they will put me in the unload". After I started as a loader and began learning zips, I asked my trainer why HR would prefer to send unloaders to sort since they don't know s_hit about zips or much of anything else (no offense, it's just more physical and less thinking). My trainer told me he had no idea why unloaders were the preferred grooming for sort instead of loaders.
He also said that for a long while UPS was sending people straight to sort but they were flunking the sort test time and time again. Because of this, they don’t send people straight to sort anymore.
Back to Day one.
So, we spent maybe 15 minutes on the floor talking to my PT sup. He seemed really cool. He said he was just a secretary doing paperwork bulls_hit and didn't micromanage. Maybe all the sups are like this, cool at first and monsters after a while. Maybe not. I'm hoping he's as straight shooting as he seems.
Be prepared to watch some corny videos on Day 1 and throughout cornerstone, and meet little ricky. He is a young man who has a brother that lives out of town. Little Ricky’s brother, for some reason, has tickets to a concert in ricky's town and can't make it. Little ricky quickly accepts the offer for the tickets and tells him to ship them UPS next day air, then calls his dad and asks for his dad's old bellbottoms to be shipped UPS next day air as well, so he can wear them to the concert and look really cool. Little ricky goes to a hub and you learn "all about" logistics
From the start of training there is A TON of emphasis on hazmats and how to handle hazardous materials. While I did not handle any such thing in the first week (besides ORMDs) one of the unloaders did encounter a smoking package. I can only assume there is a good reason you receive all this hazmat training even though I haven't seen anything like this yet. One of the unloaders encountered a dry ice cooler. The cooler had condensation on it so it was technically a leaking package so they closed the trailer down to get it checked out and cleaned.
2nd day of training, I spent some time in the classroom and about an hour on the floor.
Before we started loading we went to our station to get scanners. It took my trainer some time to find even one working scanner.
There was a whole case of worn scanners open on the bench. The PT sup informed us none of them worked. This is the norm I’m seeing day to day.
My trainer got me a different scanner but when I tried to scan in at the trailer it malfunctioned and would just log me out. So my team mate was the only one with a working scanner. Maybe this is different at your location, but there must have been 2 dozens piece of s_hit scanners laying around that didn't work.
About these scanners, I was told back in the days cost $5,000 a piece but now are down to $1500. I was told a loader got p_issed off and through his against the wall of a trailer.
Instead of getting fired he elected to keep his job and pay $50 a paycheck until it was paid off.
After an hour on the floor I returned to the training room everyone else looked like they didn't do s_hit and busted my balls for sweating. Their trainers must have been soft on them the first day.
There is SUPPOSED to be a sheet of paper on each side of the inside of the trailer that tells you what zips should be in that trailer. So if you see a zip you don't recognize you can check it out.
I wore gloves, thanks to the advice read in this thread. I couldn't imagine working without gloves. The boxes are really a b_itch and also suck the moisture out of you.
It wasn't as dusty as I expected. I'm sure this is a variant each day though.
My initial trainer (you will have more than one) was one of the cornerstone human resources instructors. All the rest of the guys had kids that looked like they were younger than me-- the supervisors of UPS!
My trainer answered a lot of my questions. He didn't b/s me too much and tell me I could make driver in less than 2 years like the other HR guys.
He was a loader for seven years. I was so grateful not to have some young kid. Some of the unloaders said their supervisors "make them laugh". I wonder if these supervisors will be as cool as they seem to them?
My trainer told me a lot of information. Some things I was told conflicts with what I read on here.
My trainer told me that UPS has never allowed building walls in a "C" or "U" shape. He says this method is unsafe and unpractical.
He said that building that way leaves no room for irregulars that come from time to time. He also taught me to load the bags from small sort on the very top.
So, if you are mid wall put them to the side so you can use them at the very top of the wall when you get to it. Based on this, whenever I would get bags I would just yank the off the rollers and let them fall to the sides to allow more boxes to slide down the rollers from low pick. I got lectured on this, and told to check the bags contents and scan it right away even if I wasn’t going to use it in the wall at the moment.
He said not to just pull them off the rollers because in a busy trailer all those bags on the side will restrict your movement and make it hard for anyone to come in and help you.
My trainer was somewhat confusing on when to scan packages because he indicated to scan the bags and iregs right away regardless and scan boxes as you build. Seems to me this would leave room for error or wasted time in re-scanning to make sure you already scanned it off the belt. I would rather just scan right before i put it in the wall.
My trainer also said that not even an intermediate skillled loader would have more than 2 trailers at a time. He seemed to indicate 1-2 trailers at a time is what you can expect.
My trainer told me cleaning on night shift was important. We were told that day shift leaves a f_ukkin mess. Then twilight doesn't clean a thing, so night shift is the last shift in the process and we're not going to leave it for the early shift. I saw night shift loaders grapping spray bottles cleaning s_hit. I don't know if this happens on all shifts or not and I still really have yet to see an intense cleaning going on belt to belt.
Day 3 & 4 are a lot like Day 2. Some classroom, some on the floor.
Day 4 we took a lot of quizzes, met with our union rep, then to the floor.
On day 4 we met our union rep. He quizzed us on all the safety methods, the 8 and 5 keys. He really chewed out the people that didn't know them.
He said management constantly breaks safety regulations in order to keep productivity high as they just want to get paid. He said don't let management get you caught up in breaking rules or cutting corners because they don't give a s_hit about you they only care about their volume. He said he sees management handle smoking and leaking packages themselves because they don't want to see their belt shut down while it's contained and cost them money out of their pocket.
He said there is a lot of package handlers that been around the hub a long time that don't follow safety procedures and not to get caught up in it. I know what he means even on a small scale because I saw one guys stop a conveyor and climb on it, then when he fixed the jam he yelled for another guy to start the belt back up. Technically this is not procedure. For you guys that have been around, do people follow the rules and procedures or is it just like the union rep made it out?
Our union rep told us that there was the teamsters word, managements word, and somewhere there's the truth. I asked my trainer (management) how he felt about that statement and he said he is not surprised and that’s something a union worker would say.
He said if management is on our a_sses unfairly about say, not letting us take a moment to drink some water while we're loading, to let him know. He also said that if we are safe workers and follow the guidelines the hub has cook outs, and free stuff giveaways. At my work station there was a box full of dvds they were giving out so I know that’s true.
He added to always write down our hours because accounting and payroll make a ton of mistakes and it's never in your favor.
One of the last thing our union rep told us was that there was a surge of drivers retiring and that if we are interested, we should stick it out because its a great time to make it to driver.
He told us there are guys with a GED and can't spell cat from dog that make 110k driving for UPS.
He said the wait time is down from 3 years to six months-2 years. Of course, I know this is seniority based and I think even 2 years is impossible for someone just starting. My cornerstone instructor told us when he was a loader the wait for driver went from 3 years when he first started to six months in a blink.
About all these claims on "how quickly you can make driver"
I have to wonder, the certified employees that work the yard, moving those trailers around-- they all have to want to drive.
All the high picks, low picks, they all have to want to drive.
Everyone in the whole place, they all have to want to drive.
There is over 1000 employees and all have more seniority than me, I can't imagine many of the DONT want to drive?
I think driving has to be the way to go if you stay at this company. If I learned anything on this board management is DISPOSABLE with a capital D. I get the impression that any PT or FT sup could be fired on the spot at any time.
Day 5 of training you work an entire shift. Based on business volume of course, you might get sent home early and you probably will.
Hopefully all the short work outs through out the week have helped prepare you. Honestly this day is not much more physical than any other day of training even though it’s a little longer. You get to feel out the shift a little more, possible handle some hazmats if you haven’t already. You’re still not in a really busy trailer.
On my day 5 of training I no longer had my cornerstone trainer, it was a new trainer. You may even have a different trainer each day until you’re done with training.
My belt was so crazy. There was not a high pick that night, the busiest night of the week. The low pick was so backed up. He almost hit me with a package because he was just throwing them down to the truck because there were so many packages backed up. My trainer saw this and told him to stop. I’m not sure what I would have done if it hit me, I wanted to climb up there and say something but I didn’t think getting in a fight my first week would be a good idea. It just seems like he shouldn’t be throwing packages and hitting people like that.
I had to hop between two trailers and get recycles really frequently because there was no high pick and everything was coming to the low pick. There was supposed to be a guy just running recycles but he would flake out all the time and do other s_hit.
There was management from other belts over to help out. FT and PT sups were loading.
It was amazing to me how management talks to each other and other package handlers. My FT sup was screaming over a walkie, cursing that he’s going to walk someone out of building. Another FT sup had to come to my belt to help us because my belt is so busy Friday. He was yelling where the f_uck is a scanner, carrying on like a mad man. When management gets hot headed, most package handlers just talk s_hit right back to management and nothing happens. Management just gets p_issed off and finds someone else to do it. I was the only one really doing recycles and there was a platform where 12-15 iregs had spilled over a conveyor earlier in the shift. The safety guy was sitting on a cart watching to “make sure no one gets hurt”.
My PT told me to climb up there and clear all that out, and I pretty much told him to look at all the s_hit I was already doing and where he would like me to start. He stormed off to find someone else. Some times it seems like I’m the only one working my belt because no one ever grabs recycles and I know they aren’t doing 2+ trailers so where the are they?
My trailer was equipped with BROKEN rollers. There is a safety bar at the end of the rollers to stop packages from overflowing or sliding of the rollers and hitting you, chopping your ankles or legs. Mine was gone. That means I had to watch myself or I’d get hit by f_ucking packages coming down the rollers. When I had to move the rollers back to make more room it was also much harder than it should have been because I didn’t have the bar to rock it or push it I had to grab elsewhere. I suppose I could have marched over to safety and said I refuse to work in these conditions and got a new trailer. I just toughed it out because I figured broken s_hit was the norm and I might as well get used to it.
At the beginning of the week, especially day 1 and 2 the job seems a lot easier than you thought it was going to be. Like I said even Day 5 is not too hard because there is a trainer there to help you with any problems you might have with your scanner, remind you to log in the trailer, ect. The job shouldn’t be hard until the end of cornerstone. Once you reach the end of cornerstone and you’re alone without a trainer then you realize the job IS as hard as you probably thought.
The unloaders tell me they can't imagine loading, and I can't imagine unloading- it would suck even more IMO. I get a small taste of unloading every time I have to grab recycles. I load up a cart and unload it with urgency, 3 seconds or less per package. Once the cart is unloaded I'm so relieved I get to go back to my trailer and build walls.
The small sort bags are so easy to handle but I have to remind myself DON’T TWIST because it’s so easy to wing those things. I tweaked my back in Day 3 throwing them but it was fine overnight. I get yelled out for throwing packages on to the recycle belt instead of sliding. While this is the only conveyor you can walk on while it’s moving, I can still see falling or getting seriously hurt on this. There are package trucks backed up to it and when there isn’t there’s other equipment like rollers right next to the belt. I avoid walking on this and hate when I have to break a jam on it.
I've been in a slow trailer for training, mostly mid shift to end of shift. When they throw you in at the start of your shift your trailer is way busier.
Advice is free and is a way of fishing the past from the disposal and recycling it for more than it's worth. If you have advice on how to survive this job please post.
If you're believer in getting out NOW! or before 2 years because after that it's even harder to quit, please check in.
As soon as I can I’m going to sign up for double shifts and come in on twilight to do preload before I work night. Meanwhile, I am just enjoying my weekends off, something I haven’t had in a long time and waiting for college football to start. Later UPSers!
**********
First day was all classroom work. You watch videos and fill out sheets of information on safety.
They tell you to wear boots. A few guys didn't but they were fine and just got a 15 second lecture.
At the very start of day 1 they announced they had no idea what section we would be going in to.
They take your photo and issue you a UPS ID on the spot. This ID has your photo and on the flipside has all the telephone numbers you need to call for different things such as the number to call Saturday or Sunday and find out what your schedule will be for that week.
About an hour later they announced this was the first time since May that they were offering choices between loader and unloader. There were no options to go straight to sort.
We were told the following:
If we take loader, we would handle way less packages but we'd have more responsibilities. We have to clean up s_hit and get ready for the AM shift
at the end of the night while the unloaders go home early.
There was not much talk about unloader, just mainly would "get to leave earlier" frequently because once all the packages are unloaded there is nothing left to do for unloaders.
I was amazed at how many hands shot up for unloader. I know that’s the consensus on the forum but I am surprised by it, still.
Most of the guys told me they just wanted to work and not have to think.
Their choice, but not mine. I was assigned my partner in training.
About sorting-- Everyone in the class was so interested in sorting, especially the unloaders. I raised my hand to clarify a sorter will sort around
five thousand packages and its no joke. But even after that people were c**ming to the thought of that extra dollar.
People even thought they could try out and get low pick off, even though HR explained this was seniority based.
My hub has a display hanging inside praising the top 20 sorters that have 0-1 missorts out of their five thousand packages.
HR had told me previously that "if I want to be a sorter, they will put me in the unload". After I started as a loader and began learning zips, I asked my trainer why HR would prefer to send unloaders to sort since they don't know s_hit about zips or much of anything else (no offense, it's just more physical and less thinking). My trainer told me he had no idea why unloaders were the preferred grooming for sort instead of loaders.
He also said that for a long while UPS was sending people straight to sort but they were flunking the sort test time and time again. Because of this, they don’t send people straight to sort anymore.
Back to Day one.
So, we spent maybe 15 minutes on the floor talking to my PT sup. He seemed really cool. He said he was just a secretary doing paperwork bulls_hit and didn't micromanage. Maybe all the sups are like this, cool at first and monsters after a while. Maybe not. I'm hoping he's as straight shooting as he seems.
Be prepared to watch some corny videos on Day 1 and throughout cornerstone, and meet little ricky. He is a young man who has a brother that lives out of town. Little Ricky’s brother, for some reason, has tickets to a concert in ricky's town and can't make it. Little ricky quickly accepts the offer for the tickets and tells him to ship them UPS next day air, then calls his dad and asks for his dad's old bellbottoms to be shipped UPS next day air as well, so he can wear them to the concert and look really cool. Little ricky goes to a hub and you learn "all about" logistics
From the start of training there is A TON of emphasis on hazmats and how to handle hazardous materials. While I did not handle any such thing in the first week (besides ORMDs) one of the unloaders did encounter a smoking package. I can only assume there is a good reason you receive all this hazmat training even though I haven't seen anything like this yet. One of the unloaders encountered a dry ice cooler. The cooler had condensation on it so it was technically a leaking package so they closed the trailer down to get it checked out and cleaned.
2nd day of training, I spent some time in the classroom and about an hour on the floor.
Before we started loading we went to our station to get scanners. It took my trainer some time to find even one working scanner.
There was a whole case of worn scanners open on the bench. The PT sup informed us none of them worked. This is the norm I’m seeing day to day.
My trainer got me a different scanner but when I tried to scan in at the trailer it malfunctioned and would just log me out. So my team mate was the only one with a working scanner. Maybe this is different at your location, but there must have been 2 dozens piece of s_hit scanners laying around that didn't work.
About these scanners, I was told back in the days cost $5,000 a piece but now are down to $1500. I was told a loader got p_issed off and through his against the wall of a trailer.
Instead of getting fired he elected to keep his job and pay $50 a paycheck until it was paid off.
After an hour on the floor I returned to the training room everyone else looked like they didn't do s_hit and busted my balls for sweating. Their trainers must have been soft on them the first day.
There is SUPPOSED to be a sheet of paper on each side of the inside of the trailer that tells you what zips should be in that trailer. So if you see a zip you don't recognize you can check it out.
I wore gloves, thanks to the advice read in this thread. I couldn't imagine working without gloves. The boxes are really a b_itch and also suck the moisture out of you.
It wasn't as dusty as I expected. I'm sure this is a variant each day though.
My initial trainer (you will have more than one) was one of the cornerstone human resources instructors. All the rest of the guys had kids that looked like they were younger than me-- the supervisors of UPS!
My trainer answered a lot of my questions. He didn't b/s me too much and tell me I could make driver in less than 2 years like the other HR guys.
He was a loader for seven years. I was so grateful not to have some young kid. Some of the unloaders said their supervisors "make them laugh". I wonder if these supervisors will be as cool as they seem to them?
My trainer told me a lot of information. Some things I was told conflicts with what I read on here.
My trainer told me that UPS has never allowed building walls in a "C" or "U" shape. He says this method is unsafe and unpractical.
He said that building that way leaves no room for irregulars that come from time to time. He also taught me to load the bags from small sort on the very top.
So, if you are mid wall put them to the side so you can use them at the very top of the wall when you get to it. Based on this, whenever I would get bags I would just yank the off the rollers and let them fall to the sides to allow more boxes to slide down the rollers from low pick. I got lectured on this, and told to check the bags contents and scan it right away even if I wasn’t going to use it in the wall at the moment.
He said not to just pull them off the rollers because in a busy trailer all those bags on the side will restrict your movement and make it hard for anyone to come in and help you.
My trainer was somewhat confusing on when to scan packages because he indicated to scan the bags and iregs right away regardless and scan boxes as you build. Seems to me this would leave room for error or wasted time in re-scanning to make sure you already scanned it off the belt. I would rather just scan right before i put it in the wall.
My trainer also said that not even an intermediate skillled loader would have more than 2 trailers at a time. He seemed to indicate 1-2 trailers at a time is what you can expect.
My trainer told me cleaning on night shift was important. We were told that day shift leaves a f_ukkin mess. Then twilight doesn't clean a thing, so night shift is the last shift in the process and we're not going to leave it for the early shift. I saw night shift loaders grapping spray bottles cleaning s_hit. I don't know if this happens on all shifts or not and I still really have yet to see an intense cleaning going on belt to belt.
Day 3 & 4 are a lot like Day 2. Some classroom, some on the floor.
Day 4 we took a lot of quizzes, met with our union rep, then to the floor.
On day 4 we met our union rep. He quizzed us on all the safety methods, the 8 and 5 keys. He really chewed out the people that didn't know them.
He said management constantly breaks safety regulations in order to keep productivity high as they just want to get paid. He said don't let management get you caught up in breaking rules or cutting corners because they don't give a s_hit about you they only care about their volume. He said he sees management handle smoking and leaking packages themselves because they don't want to see their belt shut down while it's contained and cost them money out of their pocket.
He said there is a lot of package handlers that been around the hub a long time that don't follow safety procedures and not to get caught up in it. I know what he means even on a small scale because I saw one guys stop a conveyor and climb on it, then when he fixed the jam he yelled for another guy to start the belt back up. Technically this is not procedure. For you guys that have been around, do people follow the rules and procedures or is it just like the union rep made it out?
Our union rep told us that there was the teamsters word, managements word, and somewhere there's the truth. I asked my trainer (management) how he felt about that statement and he said he is not surprised and that’s something a union worker would say.
He said if management is on our a_sses unfairly about say, not letting us take a moment to drink some water while we're loading, to let him know. He also said that if we are safe workers and follow the guidelines the hub has cook outs, and free stuff giveaways. At my work station there was a box full of dvds they were giving out so I know that’s true.
He added to always write down our hours because accounting and payroll make a ton of mistakes and it's never in your favor.
One of the last thing our union rep told us was that there was a surge of drivers retiring and that if we are interested, we should stick it out because its a great time to make it to driver.
He told us there are guys with a GED and can't spell cat from dog that make 110k driving for UPS.
He said the wait time is down from 3 years to six months-2 years. Of course, I know this is seniority based and I think even 2 years is impossible for someone just starting. My cornerstone instructor told us when he was a loader the wait for driver went from 3 years when he first started to six months in a blink.
About all these claims on "how quickly you can make driver"
I have to wonder, the certified employees that work the yard, moving those trailers around-- they all have to want to drive.
All the high picks, low picks, they all have to want to drive.
Everyone in the whole place, they all have to want to drive.
There is over 1000 employees and all have more seniority than me, I can't imagine many of the DONT want to drive?
I think driving has to be the way to go if you stay at this company. If I learned anything on this board management is DISPOSABLE with a capital D. I get the impression that any PT or FT sup could be fired on the spot at any time.
Day 5 of training you work an entire shift. Based on business volume of course, you might get sent home early and you probably will.
Hopefully all the short work outs through out the week have helped prepare you. Honestly this day is not much more physical than any other day of training even though it’s a little longer. You get to feel out the shift a little more, possible handle some hazmats if you haven’t already. You’re still not in a really busy trailer.
On my day 5 of training I no longer had my cornerstone trainer, it was a new trainer. You may even have a different trainer each day until you’re done with training.
My belt was so crazy. There was not a high pick that night, the busiest night of the week. The low pick was so backed up. He almost hit me with a package because he was just throwing them down to the truck because there were so many packages backed up. My trainer saw this and told him to stop. I’m not sure what I would have done if it hit me, I wanted to climb up there and say something but I didn’t think getting in a fight my first week would be a good idea. It just seems like he shouldn’t be throwing packages and hitting people like that.
I had to hop between two trailers and get recycles really frequently because there was no high pick and everything was coming to the low pick. There was supposed to be a guy just running recycles but he would flake out all the time and do other s_hit.
There was management from other belts over to help out. FT and PT sups were loading.
It was amazing to me how management talks to each other and other package handlers. My FT sup was screaming over a walkie, cursing that he’s going to walk someone out of building. Another FT sup had to come to my belt to help us because my belt is so busy Friday. He was yelling where the f_uck is a scanner, carrying on like a mad man. When management gets hot headed, most package handlers just talk s_hit right back to management and nothing happens. Management just gets p_issed off and finds someone else to do it. I was the only one really doing recycles and there was a platform where 12-15 iregs had spilled over a conveyor earlier in the shift. The safety guy was sitting on a cart watching to “make sure no one gets hurt”.
My PT told me to climb up there and clear all that out, and I pretty much told him to look at all the s_hit I was already doing and where he would like me to start. He stormed off to find someone else. Some times it seems like I’m the only one working my belt because no one ever grabs recycles and I know they aren’t doing 2+ trailers so where the are they?
My trailer was equipped with BROKEN rollers. There is a safety bar at the end of the rollers to stop packages from overflowing or sliding of the rollers and hitting you, chopping your ankles or legs. Mine was gone. That means I had to watch myself or I’d get hit by f_ucking packages coming down the rollers. When I had to move the rollers back to make more room it was also much harder than it should have been because I didn’t have the bar to rock it or push it I had to grab elsewhere. I suppose I could have marched over to safety and said I refuse to work in these conditions and got a new trailer. I just toughed it out because I figured broken s_hit was the norm and I might as well get used to it.
At the beginning of the week, especially day 1 and 2 the job seems a lot easier than you thought it was going to be. Like I said even Day 5 is not too hard because there is a trainer there to help you with any problems you might have with your scanner, remind you to log in the trailer, ect. The job shouldn’t be hard until the end of cornerstone. Once you reach the end of cornerstone and you’re alone without a trainer then you realize the job IS as hard as you probably thought.
The unloaders tell me they can't imagine loading, and I can't imagine unloading- it would suck even more IMO. I get a small taste of unloading every time I have to grab recycles. I load up a cart and unload it with urgency, 3 seconds or less per package. Once the cart is unloaded I'm so relieved I get to go back to my trailer and build walls.
The small sort bags are so easy to handle but I have to remind myself DON’T TWIST because it’s so easy to wing those things. I tweaked my back in Day 3 throwing them but it was fine overnight. I get yelled out for throwing packages on to the recycle belt instead of sliding. While this is the only conveyor you can walk on while it’s moving, I can still see falling or getting seriously hurt on this. There are package trucks backed up to it and when there isn’t there’s other equipment like rollers right next to the belt. I avoid walking on this and hate when I have to break a jam on it.
I've been in a slow trailer for training, mostly mid shift to end of shift. When they throw you in at the start of your shift your trailer is way busier.
Advice is free and is a way of fishing the past from the disposal and recycling it for more than it's worth. If you have advice on how to survive this job please post.
If you're believer in getting out NOW! or before 2 years because after that it's even harder to quit, please check in.
As soon as I can I’m going to sign up for double shifts and come in on twilight to do preload before I work night. Meanwhile, I am just enjoying my weekends off, something I haven’t had in a long time and waiting for college football to start. Later UPSers!
nystripe96
Well-Known Member
Newchris which hub are you at?
Wait, you only have to load two trucks at a time? I'm not sure if you're a loader or not as I'm unfamiliar with some of the terminology you used. The one thing I've learned after my first month is that the full-time supervisors yell, a lot. They look stressed out as hell near the end of the shift so I can't imagine doing that job. The job would be a lot better if the PT supervisors would just stfu, leave me alone and let me do my job.
